The boss of Britain’s second largest union called on the Government to press profitable companies to award their employees a pay rise as she visited striking dock workers at the Port of Felixstowe.

Sharon Graham, general secretary of Unite, said the Government had given firms the ‘green light’ to make large profits and should do more to ensure this income was shared with workers by providing them with a pay rise.

She warned further strike action could happen following the end of the eight-day walkout, which began on Sunday and the union would give the port ‘a small amount of time’ to consider its position before deciding whether to proceed.

She added there could be an ‘escalation’ of the strike action, which would go ‘wider,’ but declined to specify what that would entail during her visit to rally workers gathered at Dock Gate One on Wednesday.

“What is really disturbing about this is that this company has made profits that are even higher than before we took the strike action.

“It is abhorrent that they should be saying to workers that they should take a pay cut when they are making these profits. It is inconceivable to me that a company with this type of profit should be allowed to give a pay cut,” Ms Graham said.

The union is calling for a 10% pay rise for the 1,900 port workers in mainly manual roles who voted to reject the port’s offer of a 7% rise with an additional £500.

A separate branch of the union, representing 500 management and clerical workers, voted to accept the pay award.

Ms Graham added: “What the Government should be saying is that if you’re a company trading in Britain and you’re making a profit, you should give your employees a pay rise.

“It breaks down if the piece of the pie for the workers is getting smaller and the piece of the pie for the employers is getting bigger.”

Reacting to Ms Graham’s visit, a port spokesperson said: “A lot of our employees feel let down by Unite. Many want to work and are angry that they have not been allowed to vote on the latest company offer.

"Unite say they are a democratic union but their words don’t match their deeds and they are promoting a national agenda at the expense of many of our employees.

"The port has offered a deal worth 8.1% to 9.6% this year. The strike imposed on them by Unite is an effective pay cut of 2.2%. Many employees have told us they want to come to work but feel too uncomfortable to do so.”